Thursday, December 1, 2011

It’s ten years now since the onset of the chronic pain
condition that lives with me as my constant companion.I am impersonal about it, “the” condition -- careful
not to say it’s “mine” or “my” pain condition, because, believe me, this pain
doesn’t belong to me!If it got lost
somewhere on its own path through life, I don’t consider that my body is yippee
yahoo where it got found.It may be here
for a temporary stay, although after ten years it is clear that it’s far outstayed
its welcome.I have come to believe that
the pain is nothing personal – it isn’t me, it isn’t mine.It is just the companion who is always here, hidden
skilfully in some moments, but turning up like a dirty penny every time it
wants me to take notice, and, insecure as it is, it clings, abides with me, fearful
of moving on to continue its journey alone.No one wished this pain on me, as far as I know, and, if I were a
believer, I am sure no God would have had a hand in placing a plague of pain on
me.One thing for sure is that I didn’t
bring it on myself!

When it first began, my body responded right away by
limping; it was too painful to put my full weight on my right side, the pain
emanating from the hip and travelling at will down my leg.When it didn’t subside over time, I went to
many types of therapies, looking for “the cure.”My first efforts were with massage,
chiropractic and physio, as well as a series of consultations with one type of
specialist, then another.I was referred
to two different orthopaedic surgeons, both of whom told me that I wasn’t a
candidate for surgery.One said I just
needed to tighten up my core muscles and the pain would disappear!If only... The other said that nothing would
help except narcotic drugs.I suppose I
now have encyclopaedic knowledge concerning the types of help available out
there!I’ve been for osteopathic
therapy, acupuncture, intra-muscular stimulation, TENS machine work, epidural
injections, and on it goes.

I had numerous tests conducted – CT scans, MRI’s,
neuro-muscular testing, etc.They
showed, and I already knew, that I had osteoarthritis from my neck down to my
coccyx, some scoliosis, some spinal stenosis, and osteoporosis, all affecting
my spine.None of these on its own
seemed likely to have caused the degree of pain that I experience, but perhaps
the combinations and the exact locations have made “the problem” difficult to
diagnose. I have had a bone scan done on my hip twice, and both times my hip
looked absolutely healthy. The hip is clearly not the source of the problem but
just a random recipient, referred through the nervous system, undoubtedly from
the spine.

The pain has continued relentlessly over the years, never
mindful of my wishes and desires, and regardless of all therapeutic interventions.Before long, walking was not the only
casualty.One by one, activities in
which I had formerly been an enthusiastic participant were dropped.I couldn’t handle the tai chi chuan, Yang
style, 108 form; dancing, International, Israeli folk dances, ballroom, jive; strolls
to the beach, aerobic exercise class, leading groups and teaching when standing
was required.For me, it was a lengthy list
of losses, much to feel sad about, endless thoughts of “I can’t,” “I used to,”
and inevitably, “poor me.”

Not only did I stop a number of activities of my own accord,
some friends stopped calling me.One,
who I used to walk on the beach with, just stopped phoning, coming to the
conclusion that because I couldn’t walk as fast as she could, there was no point
in making plans with me.This hurt.I had thought that our friendship was bigger
than that.I knew inside that I was
still the same fun-loving person, the same person who loved a deep and
heart-felt conversation, that there was more to me and to friendship than
walking, but I was dismissed.Most
others were nicer to me, thought of alternatives if walking was too difficult,
and asked me what other ideas I might have as alternative plans.

I know that I wallowed in the pain for a
while, wallowed in the state of feeling sorry for myself, and then would promptly
go to the opposite pole and deny everything about it; I was fine, fine,
fine.I’d suffer in silence, not wanting
people to feel sorry for me; not wanting too much time spent talking about it
or focusing too much attention on me.

I’m not just a bad hip, but what am I? Who am I now?I knew that I had to acknowledge the pain but
at the same time I needed to explore alternatives.I drove up to Queen Elizabeth Park one
morning, managed to get from the car to a bench near the fountain, and sat down
to write.I found myself drawing up a
list of losses.Let’s just get it all in
black and white, so I know what I’m dealing with. That was my modus operandi.This was my statute of limitations:

Unable to work, Loss of income, Limited lifting, Difficulty
standing, Often stuck in the house, Frustration, Depression, Pain on bending
over sink to brush teeth or rinse a plate or fill coffee pot; Pain picking up
things from floor; Tying shoes, painful; Cutting toenails, I’m in pain; Putting
on socks, difficult; Getting in and out of the tub, don’t ask; Getting in and
out of the car, why mention it; Anticipating the threat of pain before undertaking
any activity, I cringe, I tighten, I stress; Moving too slowly; Vulnerability; Can’t
make definite plans re future; Can’t join many social activities – going for a
walk, dancing, exercise classes; Big risk of overdoing

No sooner had I written down this list of limitations than I
began to envision what I could do about it, what was reasonable to expect of
myself.OK, I can’t dance, but what can
I do?I can’t dance for more than ten
minutes, but can I for a fewer number of minutes? Are there more sedentary
activities that I can enjoy?When my
mind opened to possibilities, another list began to develop.Writing, at last time to do some
writing!And knitting!I haven’t knit since Grade Six, but think of
what I could make for my grandkids, my friends, myself!Maybe I need a refresher course in knitting,
a little expertise in a particular area – I’ll call the wool shop and see when
they have lessons coming up!Is there a
type of exercise that I can do?Something that still makes me feel that I am actually burning calories
or working up a small sweat?I join
classes in seated aerobics, standing during the class whenever I can, I take
Pilates for a while, yoga for a time, and rely a lot on the stationary bike,
which somehow allows me to spin my wheels, even if only for short periods at a
time.Let’s see.I can:

Stretch; Strengthen; Move slowly; Take small steps; Do short
sessions of any exercise – even 5 minutes; Continue building body awareness
through meditation scans (Jon Kabat-Zinn); Create a regular healing time in my
life, healing activities: Meditation, Body scan, Mindful yoga, Exercise bike, Breath
work – penetrate the pain with breath; Read; Move but make frequent stops, rest;
Go short distances; Plan one-stop shopping; Sit to cut up vegetables; Use
crayons to do therapeutic art – colour the pain; Do music therapy; Bring mindfulness
to daily activities; Do chores mindfully; eat mindfully; Do chores in stages I
can handle – vacuum one room a day; Pace myself; Use the portable TENS machine;
Go for massage just to pamper self; Keep body as limber as possible, relax; Take
bubble baths, with candles ... and with wine!

Fortunately, I am a “yes-butter” in a positive way.Tell me something negative, and I’ll
immediately say, “Yes, but couldn’t you do this instead?”This is second nature to me, part of my
argumentative temperament .And perhaps
that way of being is what led to a turning point in my thinking; it certainly
contributed to it.But the main turning point
itself, the moment that mattered most, had to do with a new understanding -- a whole
shift in my thinking, my attitude. The moment that mattered was the one when I
realized that how I see the pain is the
determining factor in how I am able to deal with it.

I have been a long-time meditator, for several years now,
and I do a lot of reading about the teachings of the Buddha, and how they can
be realized in our everyday lives – general mindfulness practice, being awake
in the present moment, being aware of the now rather than dwelling on old
worries or new ones anticipated.But there
are many other teachings that turned me around when it came to pain
management.

Pema Chodron, Zen teacher, writes of recognizing our suffering.She tells us to stop pushing it away; stop struggling
with it – this reactivity will just make it worse.Look at it directly and examine exactly what
is threatening us.When we become ill or
get old or don’t get what we want – just recognize our suffering as
suffering.Be curious about it.Notice it and its manifestations.Be mindful of our own reactions.Pain, of whatever sort, is a part of life,
the shadow side of pleasure.We don’t
want it, but it is bound to arise anyway.Pain and pleasure go together.They
are ordinary.Pain is not
punishment!And pleasure is not
reward!Both are just ordinary.We need to stop resisting those parts of
ourselves that we find unacceptable, for whatever reason.Breathe them in, breathe into them.Get to know them intimately and see them as
your companion.Look deeply and
honestly, and give your deepest compassion to the pain itself and to yourself
for the pain you are bearing.

My view changes gradually.I see myself in a kinder light.I
have compassion for the pain and for myself having to cope with it. This
attitude doesn’t take the pain away, but it helps me, somehow.It’s more useful to me than self-pity.I go to a workshop on meditation and writing,
given by Ruth Ozeki, author and now Soto Zen Buddhist priest.She asks us to walk outside, and to notice
--the sounds, the sights, the details
of everyday nature.We are to pay
attention.It’s a beautiful spot in
Stanley Park.All of us are overcome
with the setting, feeling such gratitude for each tiny leaf, the vein-work so
delicate, for the sturdy bark on seasoned Douglas firs, for the pathways of
crawling, climbing insects, for the deposits and growth of many mosses.

I can’t walk too far and stay in the garden
area, using my cane, as always, to help me balance and to share the weight of
my body’s exertion.Suddenly, my eyes
fill with tears.My heart opens.I realize for the first time the enormous work
being done by my left hand, holding the cane, but gripping for life, accepting
the energy it must outlay with every step.It has never spoken up to complain.It has suffered in silence.And I
am overwhelmed with the knowledge of what it is willing to experience to help
out the right side, to compensate, to be a friend, to give its every ounce of
strength for another.I feel immense
gratitude and appreciation, immense compassion for the task it has taken on
without question.

I attend a retreat given by Christina Feldman, Vipassana
teacher.She knows nothing of my
particular pain, but she knows the human condition, the human pain which all of
us experiences.With eyes closed, she
asks us to focus on the body as a whole, to scan it, observantly, noticing
sensations – perhaps tingling, warmth, or pressure – and to stop if there is an
area that keeps calling us, drawing our attention.My focus immediately rushes to my hip, my
poor hip.She asks us to breathe into
that area, to bring the breath and the refreshment of oxygen into that part.She asks us to notice whether the sensation
is constant or if it changes.Explore
it, examine it, and get to know it.When
I get to know it deeply, I don’t have to keep focusing there – it has run its
course of attracting me.I know it’s
there, but I can look beyond.Christina
says to notice how much of our body is taken up by this part, and I see that
the pain takes up maybe 10% of my body, maybe not even that much.She asks if we’d paid equal attention to the
other parts of the body, the other 90%.Again, as I had felt in the meditation and writing workshop, the rest of
my body had been so ignored, so left out, had sat so unappreciated while I
chose to focus on the pain.Christina
called for a spacious view – to put a lot of space around the painful area, and
to pay attention to that space, that huge and vast space that we’ve
back-burnered for so long.“Expand the
attentiveness beyond the difficult situation, to the entirety of the space, the
whole.”This was another moment, perhaps the moment
that caused the greatest change for me in my attitude.The
spaciousness arose, full, rich, filled with wonders, filled with abilities,
filled with ethical characteristics of unconditional support and compassion for
the painful area.I saw that cringing,
holding, wishing the pain to go away were all things that contracted me, made
me suffer more.I recognize the poison
in that, how it can become obsessive and patterned, how I could have been
identified with the pain and seen myself as the woman in pain, the woman with
the cane.Spaciousness is inclusive;
it’s all of it, the big picture.As
Christina Feldman put it, when we notice the bird flying in the sky, we see the
sky, too, not just the bird.

Christina then asked a question, the answer also pivotal in
my journey.“What do you allow to be the
gatekeeper of your happiness?”Is being
pain-free the only condition of my happiness?No!I will not allow myself to
depend on being pain-free to be a happy person.I wrote in my notebook:“My
happiness in life does not depend upon being pain free.”What a healing and freeing set of words!

To look at healing, as Jon Kabat-Zinn says, “You are already whole...
let’s shift away from fragmentation and isolation towards wholeness and
connectedness.”I now can relate
differently to this chronic pain.I can
come to terms with it, with things as they are, and stop wishing them away.It seems to me that if I can accept life as
it is, it will bring me inner peace, something that can sit at the heart of my
health and well-being.

A few years back I had tried some epidural injections, to no
avail, but in July of 2010, I was given the first of several nerve blocks –
steroidal injections to the lower spine.With the injection at L5 nerve root, I at first felt no difference
whatever.But when I had to go on
Tylenol 3 for some dental work a few days later, I suddenly realized that the
pain in my hip was gone!It was a
serendipitous shock!When I spoke to the
doctor, he told me to continue to take the T3’s for as long as they helped, and
I did that.The nerve block, in
combination with the codeine in the T3, was a magic formula that lasted for
more than two months.I was then told
that I could have these injections every three months.I waited and waited to be called for the next
one, but it didn’t happen.The pain
specialist somehow didn’t send in the referral and then was terribly ill,
himself, so that nothing was done for several months.Finally, in total agony, I got in again in February of
2011.It was another beauty.I did very well till late May or early
June.When the injection was to be
repeated in June, the exact location of the inserted needle felt different to
me -- it is a very exacting task -- and sure enough, I had absolutely no response to that nerve block at
all.By that time I had changed the
Tylenol 3’s for Emtec, a similar medication but without caffeine added to
it.The Emtec, no matter how much I
took, did not help.My son was to be
married on August 20th, and I called in desperation to tell them
that the June injection hadn’t worked and that I really didn’t want to be
writhing in pain at my son’s wedding!After much manoeuvring and behind-the-scenes sleight of hand, my pain
specialist was able to arrange another injection.With five days remaining before the wedding,
I went in to the hospital.The order had
been placed for the S1 nerve, which I didn’t understand, as previously, it was
the L5 that had worked so well for me.I
begged the radiologist to listen to me, and he therefore put most of the shot
at S1, but reserved a small bit for L5.I immediately felt that he’d hit the right place this time, but
unfortunately, I was to have very little relief once I started the Emtec
again.

As I look back at this lengthy and difficult journey, I see none of it as tragic..I have learned so much that I am well able to
accept how things are right now.I am booked
for another nerve block at L5, am waiting for a specialist at the spine clinic
for the possibility of a foraminotomy, a surgical procedure that could give the
L5 nerve root more room, and in the meantime I am taking a larger dose of Emtec
in order to at least take the edge off the pain. I realize, looking back, that I have lived a
life for these past ten years, a full life.I still have wonderful friends, a family that brings me much joy, and so
many activities that provide me with meaning and purpose.I knit, I write, I do volunteer work,
I still take part in two formal exercise classes a week, go on my exercise bike
in between times, meditate daily, belong to two meditation groups, go on
retreats when I am able to do so, read voraciously, and keep up with books,
articles and talks on the current state of education, the Jewish-Palestinian
situation, elders and the environment, and mindfulness.

You see, I have come to see the pain as a gift.It has taught me to be kinder to myself, to
honour my body and all the work it does for me, that there’s more to me and to
life than its effects, and that I can live a happy, productive and full life
without depending on its exit.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Today at the Chan Centre I watched 15 speakers, all with
inspiring endeavours that they have experienced or created, most often with the
use of technology, but not always.As I
look back on the day it is very clear that the overall message was about youth
taking action.

The audience was filled with university students, so
striking was the young demographic in attendance.I wondered how so many hundreds could afford
the price of the ticket!The stage
set-up was extremely unusual; perhaps you could call it “art techno.”I saw a large silver orb, sitting on the
apron of the stage, a set of giant baby blocks, a life-sized model of a Canada
Goose family, a Roman bust lit by a giant gooseneck lamp, an empty picture
frame suspended from the ceiling, a chaise longue, an old red lantern, a piece
of art, hanging mid-air, with an arrangement of letters and numerals, an empty
hutch ornamented with a giant egg in a bowl, a new age mirror mounted on the
side of a ladder, and a red carpet.There were photographers everywhere and a huge film camera, its boom
rising and falling, turning forward and back, panning the full house.

Lisa Johnson of
CBC hosted the event, the title of which was Frontiers.To start the day,
Lisa asked the audience, “Where are your frontiers?”

1)Reid Gower, the first speaker, sees
“the frontier” as now, not the future.He said that it was only a matter of 66 years from the Wright Brothers’
attempts at flying to travel to the Moon.The future is now.Inspired by the
work of Carl Sagan, Reid created a video series which addresses planetary and
space issues through poetry and music.You can check out The Sagan Series
(Part I): The frontier is everywhere athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY59wZdCDo0.

2)Nolan Watson’s presentation began with
a shocking title, Compassion Kills.He sure knew how to grab attention!Watson says we are making critical mistakes
in the humanitarian directions we are taking, even though what we do stems from
deep compassion for others.He says we
need to become “smart” humanitarians, with a strong sense of purpose and
responsibility.He started his own organization
to do humanitarian work in Sierra Leone, but in his case, 100% of donations are
applied to the end cause.And how else
is he “smart?”He says that right now
compassionate projects are those that keep children alive – and while this is
important, of course, he thinks that the aims are extremely short-sighted.Yes, current donations can ease pain and save
lives, but these are not longterm solutions – in fact, this practice is
“deadly.”What results, he says, is
sustained dependence on the givers.He
says that our aims need to be, whatever the cause, that recipients become
independent of the charity.He says we should earmark donations to education and
skill-building which will allow recipients to create their own futures. Invest in Africans, not Africa.Don’t let the emotions of compassion override
the real work that needs doing.See: http://www.nationscry.com/

3)Marcin Jakubowski.This was a TED talk, projected on
screen.Marcin works with open-source
technology, used for ecological purposes.He creates versions of tools and hardware that don’t cost as much as
name-brand products for farming, building, and manufacturing.These are DIY projects, do it yourself, even
things as complicated as tractors, as he uses an open business model by which
you can pick up all instructions on a CD.In this way there is a huge distributorship and many more people
participating in developing their own culture.Raising money to purchase this hardware is no longer necessary as people
in developing countries can have access to creating their own future.See:http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/marcin_jakubowski.html

4)Seth Cooper is a games scientist.He creates video games that are used for
scientific discoveries that solve problems in the real world.The human brain plus computation work
together.Lab experiments are difficult
to fund, whereas these video games use experts and non-experts to play at
finding solutions.For example, there is
a game called Fold It which motivates
players to make the best folded protein, something deemed essential in the
world of science.The game requires both
human and computer skills, it’s challenging and fun.In studies it has been found that the human
element is extremely important, and in fact, humans do better than computers
with certain skills.In creating this
game and others, players around the world can work together or alone, but
problems with proteins are in fact being solved.The game changes over time, adjusting to what
becomes known and what remains a question.Players can teach their strategies to the computer and to other
players.Using games can teach us how to
fight the flu, create materials, make better uses of energy, etc.Three criteria are required for game creation
– i) the problem must be computationally unsolvable, ii) human ability must be
required, and iii) important purpose must be evident.Games, it seems, can push the frontiers of
scientific discovery!See http://michaelgr.com/2008/05/11/fold-it-the-protein-folding-game/

5)Romeo
Dallaire, retired general with the Canadian forces, survivor of the Rwandan
catastrophe, spoke very powerfully, his subject stated as empowering youth with technology. Dallaire tells us that the status quo is
something not sustainable.Things must
change.He called upon the youth of
Canada to shape the future, not just survive it, achieving their maximum
potential.He spoke of :

a) The environment, saying that there needs to be a communion
between us as humans and the environment.We invest in weapons to protect, but we do not work towards
environmental protection.This he sees
as critical.

b)The area of technology and
communication.It’s almost universal
now that people have iPhones, etc.This
has led to revolutionary movements for freedom as we’ve seen with the Arab
Spring this year.But now, this same
technology gives us the ability to see what’s really going on all over the
world, all the atrocities.He asked what
our response is, knowing what we know.80% of the world are people who live in massively abusive situations,
and unfortunately, these conditionshave led to extremism world-wide.How do we prevent or shape or advance humanity?Dallaire says it’s the youth who must move
into activism in order to do this.How?

1)Social Media – youth hold
the balance of power; get involved through social media, engage.The world is now small.You can influence the role of Canada in the
future.Keep in mind engagement,
activism, and influence.If all eligible
voters from the youth population actually voted, he said there could be
positive change in our country’s directions and actions.

2) NGO involvement – through NGO’s there is a great potential for
activism.He spoke of Clowns without
Borders, bringing laughter into places where no one laughs.See http://www.clownswithoutborders.org/

In these ways, Dallaire sees the possibility of shaping the future with
optimism.

6)Hassan Elahi, on another TED talk, has
created a method of creative problem solving using art and technology. He was
held and questioned by the FBI for six months and underwent nine polygraphs, all
but accused of terrorism.In fact, he
teaches at a Tampa university.In order
to please the authorities, he began to record his every move with images to
document his whereabouts and actions.He
now has 46,000 images of food, airports, toilets, etc.Out of a huge insult and obvious racial
profiling, he created a solution that gives the authorities what they want,
and, at the same time, has become a giant art project.He says he has a lot of privacy, in fact,
because once he’s recorded the detailed images for the day, he’s free to do
whatever he wants!In some way, he says,
he’s devaluing FBI info because he can provide so many more details than they
can collect!See: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/hasan_elahi.html

7)Jose Figaroa.Jose appeared at the TEDx talks to speak
up about the gross errors and poor treatment of our immigration authorities and
government.From El Salvador, he left
there to become a refugee in Canada during all the tumult there in the
1980’s.He now has received a
deportation order which will affect his life and family.The reason for the order, apparently, is
because he had once been a member of the FMLN, an organization created to fight
governmental repression in El Salvador.After immigrating to Canada and being here for some time, his son was
diagnosed with autism, and now he really needs services in order to get proper
treatment.This would never be available
in El Salvador.However, the Canadian
government have accused him of belonging to a terrorist organization – the
FMLN.Strangely, that organization has
now become the government of El Salvador and has a diplomatic relationship with
Canada.Our system has not caught up
with this fact and Jose remains on the deportation list.It seems that part of his creative effort to
stay in Canada is to speak where there are people gathered, and perhaps those
people will take it upon themselves to speak up for him to the government.See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farabundo_Mart%C3%AD_National_Liberation_Front

8)David Gallo, in another TED talk, showed
a video on bioluminescence which lights up creatures underwater, like
fireflies.We have explored only 3% of
underwater life in the ocean to date, and because of bioluminescence we’ve been
able to see more -- neurally-controlled coloration and close-ups of incredible
life forms.The cephalopods and their
design were featured in the video, especially remarkable for their camouflage.See:http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/david_gallo_shows_underwater_astonishments.html

9)Dr. Kate Moran, director of the Neptune
Project, followed up on Gallo’s talk.She says that we now have new ways of exploring the sea, which takes up
70% of the planet.She pointed out that
99% of Earth’s life forms live in the sea, quite a phenomenal statistic.She explained and pointed out the 1600 year
river flow around the globe which adjust climate and is adjusted by
climate.The oceans can absorb extra
heat from the greenhouse effect and also CO2, mitigating climate change.The old methods of photography from ships and
instruments is now outdated.Mavericks
have found new ways of connecting the internet to the ocean.Project Venus is working on the coastal
areas, and Project Neptune, offshore.The sea is now lined with tens of kilometres of cables and instruments,
as well as the use of robots to instal and maintain those instruments.Videos with HD light can be filmed now so
that much more is identifiable – e.g. identification of species moving into
spawning sites, gas releasing through the ocean floor, active tectonics, black
smokers of minerals solidifying, and new life forms.Tsunamis can now be better predicted.Educationally, we can watch from home or
school digital fisheries. See http://www.neptunecanada.ca/

10)Charlie Todd has started a group called
Improv Everywhere.He is a comedian, but
a very creative one, trying to create more laughter in the world.He showed his video of seven guys getting on
a subway car, one at each of seven consecutive stops, all of whom were wearing
shorts in the middle of winter New York!The video focused on a woman sitting in the subway car, reading a book,
and her reactions.She’s pretty
stonefaced at first, but once she has eye contact with another passenger, she
becomes much more animated.At an eighth
stop, someone gets on the train selling pants, and all seven jump up to say
that’s just what they need to buy!In
addition to creating NO PANT days, he created LOOK UP MORE, where he
surreptitiously directs people who are standing in all the windows of a
building to dance or point, Operation Best Buy, where he commissioned a huge
number of people to arrive at Best Buy wearing blue polo shirts and khakis (the
outfit of Best Buy clerks), and one for a particularly long subway escalator
called Rob wants to give you a high five!Evenly spaced throughout the long ride up, are people, each with one of
several signs – 1) Rob 2) wants to 3) give you 4) a high five.The fifth sign says Rob with an arrow
pointing to the guy holding the sign.This gives a laugh to the people coming down the escalator who get to
read all the signs.

11)Shahrzad Rafati is the CEO of broadband
TV.Born in Iran, her only media
influences were hero movies and cartoons.They influenced her and entertained her when Iran was at war.At 17 she immigrated and tv became her
teacher for language and culture.She
was taken with the power of freedom of speech, something not valued in
Iran.She saw on tv what inspired her
and how she could make her life extraordinary.She became an expert in the tv world.She says that all those polls that seem to ask if tv is good or bad for
children are asking the wrong question.She spoke of Daniel Anderson who says that tv can be positive if adults
ensure an enriching experience, turning kids on to programs of value.She says that we need to teach kids to make
good choices since statistics say that over a lifetime we will be watching 15
years of television!!See VISO Give
athttp://broadbandtvcorp.com/viso-give
which showcases videos from non-profits and documentary film makers from around
the globe. For every video you watch on VISO Give, money is donated directly to﻿ that cause, so keep watching
and help make a difference with your online actions!

12)Eli Pariser, another TED talker, spoke
with a warning.He says that when we use
search engines online or just use the internet at all, choices come up based on
what that search engine sees as Relevance for you.It is the main way that your choices
appear.However, there is invisible web
editing by facebook and google and many others which filter your choices, only
certain ones appearing, depending upon your browser, your location and other
factors.The move is to personalize
things in a way that you’d find your likely choices listed, but you don’t get
to see what they’re leaving out.Even
netflicks has this same problem.They’re
doing the figuring for you.Certain of
your previous behaviours lead to an algorithmic solution that has no ethics
whatsoever.You must speak up to the
search engines that you want a much broader view with other parameters included -- Ask to see:what’s Important, Challenging, Uncomfortable as well as Other Points of View.We need to stand up for a sense of
public responsibility and personal control.See:http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html

13)Jer Thorp, data artist, currently works
for the New York Times.He spoke about
Hypercard and how it was designed for users to make their own programs.Suddenly, there’s nothing like this at
all.He urged that science, art and
design combine to allow people to share content on the internet and be able to
create their own programs again.He told
of his work in designing the memorial to 911.Names are placed in connection with each other, co-workers together,
siblings together, embedding narratives in a very human way.Our histories are being stored on modern
devices like iPhones and we need to put the data into a human context along
with the technology.See ProjectCascade at
edlab.tc.columbia.edu, a data visualization tool for tracking twitter activity
around New York Times content.And https://openpaths.cc/ for more of Jer’s work.

14)Kara Pecknold, design instructor at
Emily Carr, pushes for the notion of using design to change the world.She says that when we think of design, we
need to be thinking beyond objects – action is needed.She cited Dr. John Snow, who mapped out a
cholera outbreak in London and was able to discover the source of it, thus
creating the opportunity for its removal and an end to the cholera
outbreak.She told us to turn ideas into
action through using the design process:

Discovery – what is the problem?

Definition – what do we need?

Development – what are the
opportunities, options?

Delivery – what action will be
taken?

She says we need to shift our thinking from expert knowing all, telling
all, to shared knowledge.All the
experts working together to create new solutions, these experts being the lay
people directly involved with the problem!She did such a project with women in Africa to sell their basket
ware.Now, she’s working on a cycling
project in Vancouver which involves non-design students creating a way for people to realize
they want to buy a bike!

15)Stephen Slen and Aaron Coret, snowboarders
and best friends, spoke of their passion for snowboarding and the terrible
accident experienced by Aaron which changed his life forever.He is now a paraplegic.These two were so inspirational, as Aaron
realized while in hospital that he could give up on everything or find a way to
live a life of meaning.It was these two
who designed the “landing pod” used at the 2010 Olympics for the grand entrance
of snowboarders, etc. but the design was imagined by Aaron as a training tool,
a soft landing place that could be used in educating snowboarders and
preventing other terrible accidents like his.